FALLEN CREST UNIVERSITY (Fallen Crest #5)

Chapter 4

SAMANTHA

Weddings were where two souls became one, but for me, it was a day where I was about to beat a b***h down. I was staring at that girl now as I opened the door, and Cass Sullivan was on the doorstep. Dressed in a tight skirt that ended below her knees with a slit up the thigh and a sequined top that dipped low between her breasts, she was ready for the wedding festivities. Her hair was pinned on the top of her head with curled tendrils that fell to frame her face. A normal person would’ve looked beautiful, but this was Cass.

I drawled, “This must be your dream come true.”

Her heated eyes rolled upward before she sighed. “Seriously?”

Oh, yes. Seriously. I was trying to keep from gloating as I said, “You’re finally showing up at the Kade house to see your boyfriend. You’ve got to be wet. This is what you’ve been salivating about for years, right?”

“Oh my god.” She groaned. “Malinda said that Mark was here. You guys are all sleeping here for the weekend. Is he inside or not?”

A girl had to enjoy this torture. I had my fair share of enemies for four years now, but Cass was one that never went away. She had hated me since Mason and Logan became family, and she’d stuck like glue, refusing to go away. Her latest venture was as Mark’s girlfriend, who would be my stepbrother after today.

I folded my arms over my chest. “Maybe.”

“Sam! For real?”

I lifted a shoulder. “Maybe not.”

I was being mean. I knew this, but after the crap she put me through, she deserved it. Once Mark’s mom married my dad today, it would be official. Mark would be family, and that meant she had to be nice…er to me.

She took a step toward me.

I lifted an eyebrow.

Putting her mouth right next to my ear, she yelled at the top of her lungs, “Mark! Are you here?”

I cringed. I’d known it was coming. I’d known she was either going to hit me or scream. I’d thought I was prepared. I wasn’t. “Shut up. My god. You killed my eardrum.”

She grunted and rolled her eyes, smoothing her hands over her skirt. “Whatever. You should’ve called for him. I warned you.”

Our gazes were locked in a battle, and that was when I knew. “You’re still going to be a b***h to me, aren’t you?”

“You thought I wouldn’t be?” Her head reared back. “Where did you get that idiotic thought?”

Well, that sealed her fate. With a big grin on my face, I stepped back and shut the door in her face.

“Mature much?” she asked from the other side.

I shrugged. Any chance I got to shut a door in her face, I was going to take it. That made this more enjoyable. I turned the lock. Cass could knock and yell all she wanted. She was screwed. What she didn’t know, I did, and that was the fact that Mark was with Logan right now, and they didn’t have their cell phones with them. They weren’t even here.

Mason looked up from the table as I rounded the hallway for the kitchen. “Who was that?” A pad and pen were sitting in front of him as he was finishing up a speech.

Mark was the best man with Mason and Logan being the rest of the groomsmen. The other two snuck out for an errand, something to do with doves. I didn’t want to know any details, so I hadn’t asked. All I knew was that they’d left their phones for some reason, declaring they didn’t want to risk evidence being recorded against them. As they had done that, Mark dropped another bombshell. He was horrible with speeches and he wasn’t going to do one. No one trusted Logan to give the speech so that left one person: Mason. This was the reason my boyfriend remained behind with me.

Needing to leave to get my hair done, I was glad Mason and I were the only two in the mansion at that moment. It would be overrun that afternoon, but right now, I was trying to hold back from climbing onto his lap instead of sinking into the chair beside him. His hair was tousled and messy since he hadn’t cut it most of the summer. It would be buzzed tomorrow for football season, so until then, I would enjoy running my fingers through it.

A shadow had formed over his jaw, but he was gorgeous. With striking eyes, angular cheekbones, a strong jawline, and an athletic build, which was sculpted to perfection from years of playing football and his extra training over the past summer, I knew why he was coveted by so many at Cain University.

My fingers ached to smooth some of the worry lines from his eyes as I said, “No one.”

His eyebrows lowered. “That didn’t sound like no one.”

I shrugged and leaned close. “Trust me. No one important.”

“Hmm.” But he grinned and met me for a kiss.

With that gentle brush from his lips to mine, a small tingle went through me. We’d been together for two years now, and we had been through a mountain of troubles, but our time apart during the last year was coming to an end, permanently. After this weekend, all the cars would be packed, and Mason, Logan, and I would be moving to Cain University.

Mason would be starting late with his practices, considering his probation time from Cain U. After his last run-in with Sebastian, Sebastian’s crew got suspended, and so did Mason. He was allowed to take all his finals online, and he didn’t lose his football scholarship, but I knew he was antsy about returning to college.

As our kiss deepened, he sighed, and I could feel the tension in him.

Cupping the side of his face, I pulled back. “Everything will be fine.”

The concern was heavy in his eyes. He lifted a hand to tuck some of my hair behind my ears, resting his fingers on my cheek afterward. “If they hurt you…if they hurt Logan…” The ends of his mouth tightened, and a flash of pain filled his eyes for a moment. “I don’t know what will happen, Sam, if they touch you. I don’t.”

“It’s not going to come to that.”

Park Sebastian was the ringleader for the now officially banned fraternity, and he was the real reason behind Mason’s feud with them. Mason hadn’t wanted to play the fake who-are-you-related-to, how-wealthy-are-you-going-to-be-in-the-future, or you-scratch-my-back-and-I’ll-scratch-yours games that Sebastian initially tried to recruit him for. The rejection wasn’t taken lightly.

I ran my fingers through his hair and pulled back enough to gaze into his eyes. He was scared. I’d felt it during the summer. Each night, as he’d hold me, he’d grow more and more tense, the closer we got to this weekend.

I had no intention of being one of his weaknesses. “Mason, you don’t have to worry about me. No matter what, we’ll fight it. No one will hurt me. No one will hurt Logan.”

His hand rested on the back of my neck. He was searching my face. He wanted to believe me, but he couldn’t. Mason knew better. We’d been through too much bullshit to believe that everything would be okay, but I couldn’t be his Achilles’ heel.

No, it wasn’t going to happen. I wasn’t going to be used to hurt him.

I shifted closer to him. “I mean it, Mason. I’m here. I’m at your side. I’ll do whatever you want.”

“Sam—” he started.

I saw the struggle in him and shook my head. “No. Stop. I mean it. I get to have your back this time. And I will. No one is after me—no scorned lover, no obsessed stalker, not even a hateful b***h like Cass. No one like that will get close to me. Been there, done that. I know how to handle them.”

I pulled him close, peering deeply into his eyes. He was torn, so I smiled and softly pressed my lips to his once again. I murmured against them, “Trust me this time. I know what we’re getting into at school, and I’m here to help you. That’s it. That’s all.”

He shook his head. “You shouldn’t have to. That’s what pisses me off. I shouldn’t have to worry about Sebastian going after you, but…he’s capable of anything.”

“Stop.”

Mason always kicked ass. He’d stand in the line and dare people to go against him. He wasn’t like this, unsure of the future. This wasn’t a Mason I was used to, and that tugged at my heart even more.

“I will make friends, if that will ease your mind. I will surround myself with new college comrades, and when I come over to your house, I’ll make sure to be careful. You or Logan can come pick me up all the time. How about that?”

He only said, “He can’t hurt you. I don’t know what I’ll do if he does.”

“He won’t.” I leaned close, pressing a kiss to him once more. I whispered, “I promise.”

“Yo!”

As a shout came from the front door, and we drew back. A second later, Logan and Mark rushed in. Their cheeks were red. Beads of sweat were on their foreheads, and both had stupid grins on their faces.

Logan said again, “Yo.” He stopped, his eyes narrowed, and he c****d his head to the side. “Did you two just beat it here?”

Mason’s hand fell from my waist, and he rolled his eyes. “Logan, we’re not like rabbits, humping all the time.”

“Why not?” Logan grabbed the orange juice from the refrigerator and brought it over to the table.

As he set it down, Mark grabbed two glasses, and both sat down.

Logan added, “I would. You know, if I could…like we could’ve been—”

“Shut the f**k up.” Mason glared.

Logan winked at me as he kept grinning, pouring the juice into his glass. “Come on, brother. I thought we were all fine with what was discussed. You know, the idea of Sam and me, that there could’ve been—”

Mason growled. “I punched you back then. I will do it again.”

“What?” Logan gestured to his face. “Not this. It’s gotta stay pretty. Mama Malinda will have your ass in a sling otherwise.” He paused, his eyes alive and sparkling as they skirted between Mason and me. His lip curved even higher. “What do you think, Sam? What would they have called us? You and Mason are Samson. We could’ve been…Samog? No. That doesn’t sound right. Sagan? Lotha? Those don’t sound right either. What about just SamLo? Nah, still not right.”

Mark poured himself a glass, and he was now watching Logan. His eyes kept glancing from one side of the table to our side. His hand tightened around the glass, and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.

Mason reached for his pen and leaned closer to his brother across the table. “Shut up.” He moved with lightning speed, bringing down his hand and slamming the pen into the table. As he sat back, the pen stayed upright, wedged between two of Logan’s fingers.

Everyone’s eyes got big.

Mason moved so quickly. We realized the precision of his aim after it was already done.

Logan was the first to react. A laugh came from him. It got louder and stronger. He was shaking his head at the same time. “I love messing with you.”

“You’re going to regret it.”

The laughter died. Logan grew still. “What do you mean?”

“When you get a woman who you love…” Mason glanced sideways to me. “When she means the world to you and you’re ready to do anything to keep her safe, I’m going to enjoy doing the same s**t you’ve been doing all summer.”

“Well,” Logan’s eyebrows bunched together, and the corners of his mouth curved down, “that won’t be very nice of you.”

“Karma’s a bitch.” It was softly spoken, but it was a taunt, and everyone knew it.

Logan looked at me. A question was there. He wanted to ask me something, but I shook my head. I was annoyed too.

Yes, there could’ve been a Logan and Sam, but it hadn’t happened. Logan could’ve been a boyfriend, but Mason was my soul mate. The tension of that question, if Logan had feelings for me or not, had been plaguing us for a while. It was dealt with last year, right before the fraternity burned down. That truth came out, that there could’ve been an us with Logan and me. Mason took it easier than I’d realized.

And what Mason said was true. Logan had been making jokes about us a lot more lately. I couldn’t help to think it had more to do with the fact that Kris and he were finally done. They’d broken up, gotten back together, and repeated that chain of events throughout the entire year. Their final, final breakup was four months earlier. Weeks before our graduation, Logan dumped Kris at a party, and he’d gone back to his man-w*****g ways that night. There were rumors he’d gotten blow jobs from two different girls that night, at the same party, and he’d gone home with someone else.

Girls were friendlier to me now than they’d been when Logan was serious with Kris. I wasn’t dumb. I’d learned to recognize the I-want-to-use-you-because-you’re-close-to-Logan-Kade looks from a distance. I was able to evade their hooks. When I couldn’t, my best friend, Heather Jax, had no problem removing the hooks for me.

Thinking about Heather now, I glanced at the clock on the wall.

I needed to go for hair primping with Malinda, her two sisters, and her best friend. I knew their daughters would be there, too. But no Heather.

“What?” Mason asked.

I asked back, “What?”

“You sighed. What’s wrong?”

“Oh.” Images of hairstylists, the smell of hairspray, and the sound of giggles and whispers all plagued me at once. I cringed. “I was just wishing that Heather didn’t have to work today.”

“Nate’s coming tonight. He has some meeting at Cain U, but he’ll be driving down later. Jax is coming tonight, isn’t she?”

I nodded at Logan. “Yeah. She’ll get off in time for the wedding dance.”

“Thank god.” He raked a hand through his hair. “She and Channing are on the outs now, aren’t they?”

I stiffened. It was true. Heather and her off-again, on-again boyfriend from Roussou, Channing, were in one of their off times, and the feisty back and forth between her and Logan increased over the last three weeks.

The look in Logan’s eyes didn’t sit right with me. Still. If Heather wanted to sleep with Logan, there was nothing I could do. It wasn’t like she didn’t know what she would be getting into, but I heard myself saying, “If you do what I think you’re going to do…” I paused to make sure Logan knew I was being serious.

He did. He moved in slow motion, so he was sitting at his highest height. The wicked glint he’d had when he came into the dining room now dimmed slightly. A more sobering look replaced it, and as he held my gaze, his head lowered just a bit. He was on my same level now.

I said, “You need to remember that she is the one female who’s been a true friend to me. Do not s**t on my friend’s doorstep. You got that?”

His jaw clenched. “Jax isn’t like the others, Sam. I respect her.”

“Make sure to keep that respect afterward, too.”

A phone buzzed from the counter, and Mark went to grab it. After he read the text, he looked up. “Uh, Sam?”

I already knew what was coming, and I started to stand from the chair.

He was still hesitant, glancing from me to Logan, as he said, “It’s my mom. You’re wanted at the house.”

I nodded. “Hair appointment.”

Mason grabbed my hand and pulled me back. He cupped the back of my head and kissed me. He murmured in my ear for only me to hear, “Have fun with your new mom. She already loves you.”

A wave of something else went through me, and my throat closed up. I nodded and kissed him back again before pulling away and heading out of the house.

As I walked across the street to my dad’s and Malinda’s home, I wiped at my eye. No matter the undercurrents in our group, Mason was right. This was the day I was getting a new mom who actually loved me.

A weight lifted from my shoulders. I found myself grinning as I walked inside, already hearing shrieks and laughter from the kitchen. Today was the day Malinda would become Mrs. Malinda Decraw Strattan.

Malinda was there, her arms wide open for me, and she hooted, “Hot holy cannoli! It’s my daughter. Come here, you beautiful, beautiful woman!”